Macy's : History

Macy’s

What is Macy’s: Macy’s is an American chain of mid-to-high range department stores in New York. Its business interests spans across products like clothing, bedding, footwear, furniture, jewelry, cosmetics, housewares.

Founder:Rowland Hussey Macy, 1858.

Macy’s History

Rowland Hussey Macy began as a retailer of dry goods. His original four stores had to be shut down for lack of business. He then moved to New York in 1858 and established ‘R H Macy Dry Goods’ on 6th Avenue. On its opening day on October 28, it did a business of $11.08

Macy’s Trivia:

From the very beginning, the logo has included a star in one form or another, which comes from a tattoo that Rowland got as a teenager when he worked on a Nantucket whaling ship

In 1875, Rowland took on two partners, Robert M. Valentine (1850–1879), a nephew; and Abiel T. La Forge (1842–1878) of Wisconsin, who was the husband of a cousin. Rowland died just two years later in 1877 from Bright’s disease

In 1895, the company was acquired by Isidor Straus and his brother Nathan Straus, who had previously held a license to sell china and other goods in the Macy’s store.

In 1994 it merged with Federated Department Stores

Despite being advertised as the largest in the world (store in NY), it is no longer the biggest store in the world. Currently the biggest store in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is the flagship store of Shinsegae in Centum City, South Korea with an area of 509,810 square metres

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade started in 1924 as Christmas Day Parade.